In semiconductor technology, transferring structures from a mask onto a substrate, in particular a wafer, is an important step in the production of semiconductor components. Various technologies for transferring the structures are known.
Among the oldest technologies for transferring structures onto a substrate are contact lithography and proximity lithography. With contact lithography, typically resolutions of 0.8 μm can be achieved, and with proximity lithography, resolutions of as little as about 2.0 μm can be achieved.
However, most widely distributed are so-called steppers, with which structure precisions of as little as 0.1 μm or less can be achieved. However, steppers are expensive to buy.
Today, carrying out structure transfers in a range from about 0.8 μm to about 4.0 μm or above inexpensively and technically perfectly is a problem, in particular in the production of MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems). In principle, these structures could also be transferred by means of a stepper—but, as mentioned, this is extremely expensive. So-called mask aligners are less suitable for this resolution range.
The invention is therefore based on the object of proposing a simply constructed, inexpensive device with which structures from a resolution range between about 0.4 μm and about 4.0 μm or above can be transferred onto a substrate, in particular a wafer. Preferably, it should be possible to achieve a high substrate throughput with the device.